JP2002500533A - Stent with variable expansion force - Google Patents

Abstract

A stent having a length, the stent expandable from an unexpanded state to an expanded state, the radius of the stent in the unexpanded state constant along the length of the stent, the stent comprising: a tubular shaped structure, said structure having a radially outward biased force, said force being varied long said length, said tubular structure having a first end region, a middle region, and second end region, wherein said force is weakest in said first end region, stronger in said middle region than in said first region, and stronger in said second end region than in said middle region, the structure including a plurality of zig-zag bands (102), adjacent zig-zag bands connected by interconnecting elements (109). <IMAGE>

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates generally to medical devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to a stent that maintains the openness of flow of a blood vessel such as an artery. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A stent is an insertable medical device. Stents are used to close when not in use and to maintain openness for fluid flow in areas where fluid flow may be obstructed. To prevent restenosis after percutaneous transluminal catheter angioplasty (PTCA), a stent is used that has a radial outward force on blood vessels that may return after balloon dilatation. The stent maintains the openness of the inflammatory vessel wall. Without a stent, the inflammatory vessel wall swells and closes, disrupting flow. Stents can also be used to keep open holes created by surgery for drainage. Stents are often tubular devices that are inserted into a tubular vessel region. Balloon expandable stents require that the stent be mounted on the balloon, positioned and inflated to radially expand the stent radially. Self-expanding stents expand when unconstrained without the need for balloon assistance. Self-expanding stents are adapted to expand upon removal from a delivery catheter. Vessel stenosis can be modeled as an inwardly projecting arched appendage of rigid material to the cylindrical vessel wall. In a cylindrical vessel wall, the stenotic region has a slightly stiff body attached along the elastic wall. Stenosis is resistant to dilation of blood vessels in the area where the stenosis straddles. Stenosis varies in composition, for example, in the degree of calcification, and therefore also in nature. Due to the multiple stenotic arch shape, there is a change in the resistance along the vessel axis to outwardly acting radial forces of the stent. In particular, the resistance of stenotic vessels is often greatest in the middle, less at the ends, and decreases rapidly at the beginning of healthy vascular tissue. Conventional self-expanding stents optimally have a length greater than the length of the stenotic region to maintain openness. Current stents have a substantially uniform outwardly acting radial force along their length. At present, the radial force acting outward of the stent does not change according to the stenosis shape or stenosis resistance. A stent with a constant force that is sufficient to maintain an open channel within the stenosis will have more force than is required in a healthy vascular segment beyond the end of the stenosis. Thus, the stent distal end may open outwardly and funnel into the non-stenotic tissue, stimulating the tissue. Stenosis can occur in a region of the blood vessel that has an asymmetric shape on both sides of the stenosis. One example of this is the coronary ostium, which has a wide opening toward the aorta and converges into a narrower coronary artery. A conventional stent placed in the mouth will exert a substantially uniform outward force on non-uniform vessel diameters. This force is likely to be less than optimal for the larger area if it fits properly for the smaller vessel opening. Desirably, what has not been done before is that it can have enough force to keep the vessel open within the returning stenosis, but can only provide the necessary force to healthy, non-stenotic vascular areas It is a stent. Also not provided is a stent that provides the necessary but necessary force along the stenosis in a vascular region having a non-uniform vascular diameter on both sides of the stenosis. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention includes a self-expanding stent having a tubular structure in which radial forces acting outwardly vary with longitudinal position along the length of the stent. In one embodiment, the force is large at the center and small at both ends. Such a stent is suitable for placement in a stenotic vascular region. In another embodiment, the force is small at one end, large at the center, and greater at the opposite end. Such stents are suitable for placement in stenotic narrowing vessel areas, including placement near the coronary ostia. One stent has a structure formed from a shape memory material. In one embodiment, the stent is formed from a nickel-titanium alloy. The stent structure of one preferred embodiment comprises a helix formed from a wire having more closely spaced helix turns in the middle than at the ends. The helix is adapted to expand along its axis and contract in length after being extended and released along an axis. In another embodiment, the helix turns are spaced from one end to the opposite end. In another embodiment, the interwoven or interwound wires form a tubular structure, the number of wires being greater per unit length on the medial side than on the ends. The mutually wound wires may be metal wires. After being wound into a tubular stent shape, the wire can resemble a helix or helix. In yet another embodiment, the number of wires increases from one end to the other end. By providing stent structures that intersect at a connection with more material in areas requiring more radial force and less material in areas requiring less force, a Will change. The amount of connection material can be varied by changing the size of the area of the connection. In one preferred embodiment, the stent structure is formed by laser cutting a Nitinol tube, leaving larger strut dimensions in areas requiring more outwardly acting radial forces. In another embodiment, the stent structure has a series of wire springs having a "zigzag" shape, each of which radially surrounds the tubular section. The springs are interconnected longitudinally. By varying the stent wall thickness in this and other embodiments, the required outward radial force can be varied. In one embodiment, areas of the stent that require more radial force have thicker walls than areas that require less force. Stents made in accordance with the present invention can exhibit outward radial forces that better match local force needs. In particular, the stents of the present invention do not exert too much force in healthy tissue regions, but rather only where needed at the center of the stenosis. The stent of the present invention has an expanded configuration that better matches the needs of the narrowing vascular region, with greater expansion in larger regions and smaller expansion in smaller regions. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a stenotic blood vessel region. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a stenotic blood vessel region where a normal stent is placed. FIG. 3 is a plot showing force versus length for the conventional stent of FIG. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion in a narrowing blood vessel region. FIG. 5 is a plot showing force versus length for an improved stent for deployment in FIG. FIG. 6 is a plot showing the force versus length of the modified stent for the deployment in FIG. FIG. 7 is a side view of a self-expanding stent having more wires per unit length at the center of the longitudinal axis. FIG. 8 is a side view of a more closely spaced self-expanding stent coil in the middle. FIG. 9 is a side view of a self-expanding stent having a thicker element in the middle of the longitudinal axis. FIG. 10 is an end view of the stent of FIG. FIG. 11 is a wafer view of the stent of FIG. FIG. 12 is a longitudinal profile of another embodiment of the present invention having a non-uniform diameter along the length of the stent. FIG. 13 is an enlarged view of the element connection part in the self-expandable stent. FIG. 14 is an enlarged view of one element connection of the self-expanding stent of FIG. FIG. 15 is an enlarged view of one element connection portion of the self-expanding stent. FIG. 16 is a side view of a self-expanding stent in which the density of elements increases in one end direction. FIG. 17 is a side view of a self-expanding stent having elements closer together in one end. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a stenosis 30 forming a narrow region 34 within a blood vessel 31 within a blood vessel wall 32. Adjacent to the stenosis 30 is a healthy vascular region 36. FIG. 2 shows a conventional stent 40 penetrating a stenosis 30 outside the blood flow channel indicated at 44. The stent 40 has an illustrated stent end 44 that advances at an angle of 38 within a healthy vascular segment 36. The illustrated stent 40 has a force sufficient to keep the vessel 30 open against the force returning to the stenosis 30, a force greater than that required at the stent end 42, 40 advances at an angle that is 38 into a healthy blood vessel. FIG. 3 shows an ideal plot 50 of outward radial force against stent length L for a conventional stent as shown in FIG. As shown, the force is approximately constant over length. FIG. 4 shows a narrowing blood vessel 52 having a wide area 56, a narrow area 58, and a stenosis 54. The narrowing vessel in FIG. 4 shows a shape that exists in a hole such as the left coronary ostium where blood from the aorta enters the left coronary artery. A stent that has sufficient force to keep the wide area 56 open will have a greater force than is necessary to keep the narrow area 58 open. The outwardly acting radial force axial distribution stent of FIG. 3 has insufficient force in the wide area 56 (greater than the force required in the narrow area 58). FIG. 5 shows a plot 60 of outward radial force F along stent length L for one stent embodying the present invention. The stent has a greater force in the central region 62 than in the distal regions 64,65. A stent having the force curve of FIG. 5 is suitable for straddling the stenosis shown in FIG. 1 and prevents it from going angularly into healthy tissue, designated 38 in FIG. FIG. 6 shows a plot 66 of an outwardly acting radial force F along a stent length L in another stent embodying the present invention. The stent has a greater force at end region 68 than at the opposite end region 70. A stent having the force curve of FIG. 6 is suitable for straddling a stenosis as shown in FIG. 4 and has sufficient force to keep the wide vessel region 56 open, but requires a smaller force. 58 has a smaller force. FIG. 7 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention having the force distribution shown in FIG. Self-expanding stent 80 has a number of resilient wires 82 woven together as shown at 88. In use, the stent 80 is pulled in the longitudinal direction, increasing in length and decreasing in diameter. The stent 80 is inserted into the distal end of the delivery catheter, advanced to a stenosis that is pierced, and removed from the distal end of the delivery catheter. Upon exiting the tube (catheter), the stent 80 expands radially and contracts axially, compressing the stenosis and the vessel wall. The stent 80 has a central region 84 and terminal regions 86,87. The stent wire 82 is allowed to return to the unconstrained state, but is wider and shorter than the constrained stent form in the tube (catheter). The amount of outwardly acting radial force exerted per unit length of the stent is greater in regions having a higher density of wires per unit length. As shown in FIG. 7, the stent 80 has more wires per unit length in the central region 84 than in the distal regions 86,87. The stent 80 has a greater outward radial force at the central region 84 than at the distal regions 86,87. The higher number of wires per unit length in one embodiment results from extending the entire length of the stent and forming a wire that is more tighter toward the center of the stent. In another embodiment, a larger number of wires results from adding additional wires that are only present in the central region of the stent. FIG. 8 illustrates another embodiment of a self-expanding stent 90 of the present invention, which has a central region 94 and terminal regions 96,97. The stent 90 is formed from a single helically wound wire 92, forming a helix 98. In a preferred embodiment, a nitinol material is used for wire 92. In helix 98, there is a distance between helix turns, as shown at 99. The distance 99 varies at a position along the longitudinal axis, being greater in the central region and smaller in the distal regions 96,97. The wire 92 is formed as a spring and, after being stretched in the axial direction, returns to its unconstrained shape when released. The amount of outward radial force exerted is greater in areas with more wire elements per unit length, which is achieved in stent 90 by a smaller distance 99 between helix turns. That is, the stent 90 has a greater outward radial force in the central region 94 than in the distal regions 96, 97. FIG. 9 shows a stent 100 according to yet another embodiment of the present invention, which has a central region 104 and terminal regions 106,107. Stent 100 has a tubular configuration formed from wires 102. The wire is formed into a number of springs 108 having a zigzag shape, each spring radially surrounding a segment of the stent 100, as shown in FIG. Referring again to FIG. Spring 108 is longitudinally interconnected with segment 109. In one embodiment, spring 108 and segment 109 are formed using standard wire bending jigs and techniques, such as by soldering segment 109 to spring 108. The preferred material for forming the stent 100 is Nitinol. In another embodiment, the springs and segments are formed by laser cutting a metal tube having continuous walls, leaving only the springs 108 and segments 109. FIG. 11 shows an elevational wafer cross-sectional view along 11-11 of FIG. A central region 104 and a distal region 107 of the wire element 102 are shown in cross section. The magnitude of the width and / or length at the distal region 107 (shown at 101) is smaller than the size at the central region 104 (shown at 103). The central region having a magnitude 103 has a greater radial force acting outward than the distal region having a relatively small magnitude 101. The radial expansion force may also vary with the frequency and / or size of the zigzag shape. FIG. 12 schematically shows another embodiment of the present invention by imaginary lines. The contour of the stent 110 is shown in phantom. The stent 110 has a central region 114 and terminal regions 116,117. The stent 110 is at least partially formed from a shape memory material. In a preferred embodiment, stent 110 is formed from Nitinol. The shape memory material can be annealed to a first shape and heated, thereby setting the material structure, cooling, and deforming to a second shape. The first shape has a larger average outer diameter than the second shape. The material returns to the first memory shape at a phase transition temperature specific to the material composition. FIG. 12 shows the stent shape to be restored when body temperature is reached. The stent 110 has a central outer diameter 113 and a distal outer diameter 111, where the central outer diameter is greater than the distal outer diameter. The stent 110 can be compressed to fit within the delivery catheter, the delivery catheter advanced to the stenosis, and the stent can be pushed out of the delivery catheter distal end. The stent 110 then begins to remember the memory configuration of FIG. The stenotic region typically has the arch shape of FIG. Because the stent's central outer diameter 113 is greater than the distal outer diameter 111 and the central medial diameter of the vessel is typically smaller than the distal medial diameter of the vessel, the stent 110 may have a distal stent region 117, 116 with respect to the distal vessel wall. A greater force can be applied in applying the central stent region 114 to the central vessel wall than in applying. FIG. 13 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 13 shows a tubular stent structure formed from elements connected at a connection. The size of the connection can vary with the length of the stent. 1 shows a stent 120 having a structure 122 having elements 124. As shown in detail in FIG. 14, the elements 124 intersect each other at the connection 130. FIG. 15 shows a connection with more material than the connection of FIG. In the embodiment of FIG. 15, the connection 132 has a larger surface area than the connection 130. Connections with more material have a greater ability to have outward forces in the radial direction than connections with less material. One embodiment of the invention has elements that connect or intersect at a connection with more material in the tube center region and less material in the tube end region. In one preferred embodiment, the connection is formed by laser cut Nitinol tubing. In use, the tube may be compressed to fit within the delivery catheter, advanced to the stenosis, and pushed distally from the distal end of the delivery catheter. Since the tube is again incompressible, the portion with more material at the connection can exert an outward force in a larger radial direction. FIG. 16 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention suitable for use across a stenosis in a narrowing vessel region, such as the left coronary ostium. The stent 140 has a first end region 147 and a second opposite end region 146. Stent 140 is similar to stent 80 of FIG. The stent tube has wires 142 that can be wrapped around the stent and interwoven. As shown in FIG. 16, the wires 142 have a greater density per unit length of the stent at the second end region 146 than at the first end region 147. This allows the second end region 146 to exert a greater outward radial force than the first end region 147. That is, the first end region 147 can conform to the narrow vessel region 58 and the second end region 146 can conform to the wide vessel region 56. FIG. 17 shows another embodiment of the present invention suitable for use through a stenotic narrowing vessel region. Stent 150 extends from first end region 157 to second end region 156. Stent 150 is similar to the construction of stent 90 of FIG. 8 and has a wire 152 that is formed into a helix or helix 158. The helix turns are separated by a distance of 159. As shown in FIG. 17, the helix turns are further apart at the first end region 157 than at the second end region 156. This spacing allows the stent 150 to exert a greater radial outward force at the second end region 156 than at the first end region 157. 16 and 17 show two embodiments that have a greater radial force at one end than the other. This property can also be obtained using other structures. Another embodiment having this property is similar to the longitudinal half of FIG. 9 and has a greater element thickness at one end than the other. Yet another embodiment is similar to the longitudinal half of FIG. 12 and has a larger outer diameter at one end than the other. As in the embodiment of FIGS. 16 and 17, a stent exerting a greater radially outward force at one end than the other end is passed through the narrowing in the narrowing vessel region shown in FIG. It becomes possible. A stent end with a greater radial force can expand into a larger vessel area. On the other hand, a stent end having a smaller radial force can expand to a narrower vessel area wall, but can be expanded with less force than the stent end requires to expand in a larger vessel area. This can reduce unnecessary forces on the vessel wall, keep the vessel open, and keep the stent substantially outside the vessel flow path. The present invention provides a stent having a radial force that varies along the length of the stent. A stent has been described that is used as a straddle vessel region for the purpose of illustration. Another use is to keep open channels through inflamed or otherwise restricted internal body lumens. It is clear that stents used for other purposes are also within the scope of the invention. Although a self-expanding stent has been described herein to illustrate the invention, it should be noted that so-called balloon-expandable stents may also have the variable expanding force properties described herein. However, for balloon expandable stents, these forces are typically less than the force required to expand the stent, and a balloon is used to complete expansion of the stent, as is known to those skilled in the art. Stents with stiff or heavy members can preferably deploy the balloon-expandable stents described above at bends in blood vessels, such as ostium, where enhanced stent flexibility is desirable. Therefore, it should be understood that balloon expandable stents are also within the scope of the present invention. A number of features and advantages of the invention encompassed by this specification have been described in detail. However, it will be understood that this disclosure is, in many respects, only illustrative. Changes may be made in details, particularly in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of members without exceeding the scope of the invention. Of course, the scope of the invention is set forth in the following claims.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a stent having a length and a radius along its length, Comprising a tubular structure having a radially outwardly acting force, the force being reduced in length. Along, the tubular structure has a first end region, a central region, a second end region The force is minimal in the first end region and stronger in the central region than in the first end region. A stent that is stronger at the second distal region than at the central region. 2. In a stent having a length and a radius along its length, Comprising a tubular structure having means for exerting a radially outwardly acting force , The force varies along the length and the tubular structure comprises a central region, a first end region, a second Having a terminal region, the means for exerting force has several helices, the number of which is Low one, each helix has multiple turns, the turns being the axis between turns With an upper spacing, the spacing being smaller in the central region and greater in the first and second end regions. A stent characterized by the following. 3. The stent has a length, the number of helices is two or more, and the helix is 3. The stent of claim 2, wherein the stent is wound together along its length. 4. In a stent having a length and a radius along its length, Comprising a tubular structure having means for exerting a radial outward force, the force being reduced in length. Along, the tubular structure has a plurality of crossing elements, each of which has a certain amount of material. The amount of material in the connection is greater in the central region than in both end regions. And a stent. 5. In a stent having a length, A tubular structure, wherein the structure is formed from a shape memory material, the structure comprising a first location and a first location. 2 positions, the first position having a smaller average outer diameter than the second position, The second location has an outer diameter along the length, and the outer diameter at the second location is along the length. A stent characterized by changing. 6. The stent has a central region, a first terminal region, a second terminal region, and a second region. Characterized in that the outer diameter of the location is larger in the central region than in the distal region The stent according to claim 5, wherein 7. The stent has a first end region, a central region, a second end region, and a second end region. The outer diameter of the location is smaller in the first region and in the central region than in the first region Characterized by being larger in the second end region than in the central region The stent according to claim 5, wherein